Tech Journalist. Storyteller. Media Consultant.
I often get bombarded with press releases that use the first 150 words to tell me nothing.
I have some tips for when you want to pitch someone’s promotion.
Continue reading “NO JARGON. Every sentence should say something.”
The Walt Disney company late last year launched its Disney Plus channel to great fanfare.
The release, as expected, was huuuuge.
I grabbed it on its first day and have since spent many a night with Aladdin, Simba and the Daikinis hanging out with Wicket in the movie “Willow.”
But more recently, a new feature caught my eye.
Continue reading “Disney Plus’ new feature should give entrepreneurs an idea: tell stories”
If there is a Startup Weekend group near you, join it.
If there is a Startup Weekend event coming up, go to it.
The event is often a relaxed atmosphere during which several teams build a business in a weekend.
Now, some of the businesses stick around but most do not.
Continue reading “If you are near a Startup Weekend: Just Do It.”
Social media has become one of the quickest ways for people – and businesses – to rake in the attention of those who probably would never have heard of them.
If you do it right, I imagine you’re a big fan of the potential return on investment there.
The band Guster recently gave a lesson on the power of social media on its Instagram page.
Continue reading “Guster shows how to do social media”
For most of my nearly 10 years as a professional journalist, I have written about young companies and, more specifically, tech startups.
It wasn’t that long after I began doing so that I developed an appreciation for the hard work that it takes to build a new company.
While you spend most of your energy on building a success, external factors team up to push against you.
One of those factors can be a public relations company that doesn’t know how to pitch a reporter.
Continue reading “Vet your PR firm. Please.”
Why share a photo of a grand opening of a new hotel that already has a big following? Because you can learn a few things about how this 21-year-old brand started by Jimmy Buffett pushed its debut.
The marketing firm behind the event invited as many bloggers, reporters and newsmakers as it could.
The result in today’s world is a high cadence of stories and blog posts that keep the Margaritaville resort in the public eye for weeks.
Continue reading “Learn a few tricks from other industries – like hotels”
I had a conversation recently with an Orlando tech leader.
In it, I bluntly told him what I felt was one of the biggest problems I see when a startup pitches me a story.
They are so eager to tell me about their product line that they forget I’m not there to sell their product. I’m there to tell their story.
Continue reading “Startups, here is how NOT to pitch a news reporter.”